The Hill: To win in 2022, Democrats must cut the squabbles and get back to basics

DMA President and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, The Hill Opinion

Amidst endless partisan bickering — and with the unpredictability of the pandemic looming in the background — the notion of a unified Democratic party seems like a pipe dream. With the advent of social media, what once occurred behind closed doors has become a spectator sport. Flash and virility have replaced good governing. Opinions have replaced facts. 

As the newly elected president of the Democratic Mayors Association, I’ve been given the privilege to speak on behalf of Democratic Mayors across the country. We’ve witnessed the tenets of the Democratic Party being drowned out by a national screaming match and it’s time to get back to the basics: jobs, housing, education and healthcare.

I’m the Mayor of Richmond, Va., — the former Capital of the Confederacy — where I see firsthand the struggles that everyday Americans are facing. While catchphrases touted by both sides of the aisle make headlines that evoke strong emotional responses, their most lasting legacy is division. It’s time we shift our focus away from appeasing party extremists and get back to appealing to our base. This is not reinventing the wheel. This is how countless mayors, including myself, have gotten elected and how we’ve chosen to lead. 

At the end of the day, being a Democrat is about helping folks. We want everyone to have the opportunity to succeed, and if you’ve fallen on hard times we want there to be a way out. 

My upbringing had no silver spoons or picket fences. My mom was 16 when she had me and I was raised paycheck to paycheck by my father and grandmother — he was a public school custodian with a felony on his record, and she was a domestic worker. Free school lunches were sometimes the difference between hungry and not. 

The reason I bring this up isn’t for sympathy. It’s because when Democrats talk about helping those in need, I was one of those people. I understand what it’s like to need help, and how valuable that help can be. In spite of my circumstances, I became the first in my family to graduate high school (and then college) and now I’m the twice elected Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. I was lucky. 

I got into public service because my story is not unique. It’s not an inner-city story, a Black story, or a coming from a broken home story. It’s an American story that far too often doesn’t get to happily ever after — and that is something I will spend my life fighting to change. 

Recent elections and the current trajectory of the GOP should serve as a cautionary tale. If we continue to allow them to set the narrative we will continue to lose. Our party was once one of inclusion; a party whose rhetoric was based on “hope” and growing “stronger together.” The issues of the Democratic Party are issues that affect people’s everyday lives — that should give us a huge advantage. 

As we head towards the midterms and future elections, my hope is that our party will unify. We must resist the eye for an eye mentality when baited by the Republicans. We must extricate ourselves from the culture war and remind voters, and ourselves, what Democratic leadership means: access to affordable housing, good-paying jobs, and high-quality education and healthcare. 

Getting back to the basics isn’t just about winning. It’s how we help people. In a country as powerful as the United States, the status quo is unacceptable. We can do better. This is a critical moment for our country and our democracy, let’s not let it pass by. 

Levar Stoney is the 80th mayor of the City of Richmond. He is the youngest mayor in Richmond history and the first millennial African American mayor to serve in the city.

Read the original article here.